My CFA awards dinner speech; good journalists give voice to the voiceless, but is journalism itself becoming voiceless?
WASHINGTON D.C. -- Here are my prepared remarks from this Wednesday's Consumer Federation of America awards banquet. There is no video, so I've matched an audio file with a few images. I'm sorry the audio isn't great -- it's from Michael Shreiber's iPhone -- so if it's too hard to hear, you can read the text below. It was an amazing, flattering, humbling night. Also below is a quick bit of the talk given by U.S. PIRG's Ed Mierzwinski to introduce me.
(Click here to watch/listen on YouTube)
It is so wonderful to be here tonight, among all you folks who spend all your days, and many nights and weekends, fighting to make our country a little bit more fair. I'm honored that you took a little time out from that fight to have dinner here with me tonight, and floored that I'm in front of you getting an award. I'm also well aware that I stand between you and a well-earned good night's sleep, so I'll be brief.
I'm thrilled that this award is named for Betty Furness. As a kid in north jersey I grew up watching betty, cheering for Betty. And it's no small thing that I wathed with my parents, a high school teacher and a secretary -- who also cheered for Betty. I picked up a lot from that
As you know, Betty broke a lot of barriers, for women, for television, for consumers..but the one she didn't break was age. She felt she was prematurely pushed off the TODAY show when she still had more to give. Age discrimination hasn't gotten nearly the attention it deserves -- I'm doing some reporting on it now -- its a bad problem that's only going to get worse.
Speaking of getting worse, let me just take a moment to talk about journalism. I’m very, very honored to receive this award, but I’m a little concerned that you picked me because you had trouble finding another living, breathing journalist. Certainly you had trouble finding another living, breaking consumer journalist. There's a stark reality facing my profession, and you all know it well. Thousands of years of collected journalism experience have been vaporized as journalism wretchs through this time..and I firmly believe we all see the consequence of that, every day, as we see the race to the bottom that is our national discourse.
When journalism is done well, it gives voice to those who would otherwise be voiceless in society. I'm hear to warn you that journalism itself is in danger of becoming voiceless. But maybe...just maybe...there's something you and I can do about that.
As many of your know, I left NBC News two years ago to set out my own shingle, thinking that was the better way for me to continue covering the topics I care so deeply about. There was a real danger that my voice would slip into oblivion. But thanks to some good fortune and good partners -- my first partners are here tonight, the good folks of Credit.com, who threw me my first lifeboat -- I'm proud to say that 874 stories later -- no kidding - I'm still standing.
But hundreds, even thousands, of my colleagues are not. I miss them. I need them. You need them. Our country needs them. So I am working with the University of Georgia's Cox Institute for Journalism Innovation on something I call sustainable journalism. Can journalists facing the awful dillema of working in PR or writing up 27 ways dogs are cuter than cats find an alternate?
I talk often of a mythical school board reporter in Iowa who's about to lose her job, and take with her all the institutional knowledge of how that school system runs. Can she find a way to keep doing stories that parents in her community desperately need? If I have my way, she will. She's start a paid newsletter, or get a few sponsors for a blog, or she'll do a podcast, or she'll learn to syndicate, as the folks at Credit.com have taught me. Whatever it is, I really, really want her to try. I don't want her voice silenced.
So, how can you help? I'm here tonight to ask your patience when you get a phone call or email from a journalist working with an outfit you've never heard of. Better yet, maybe throw us a bone or two. A scoop that might make the back page of the Washington Post might make an independent journalist's entire career. And yes, that's a hint.
I know you have the same mission I do, to give voice to the voiceless. Well, here's a new chance to do that. I know many wounds the media has suffered are self-inflicted. But I promise you many individual journalists are worthy of your help. And they need it. I accept this award on behalf of all my friends and colleagues who are struggling to make sure their voices don’t disappear during this turbulent time.
From my speech on Wednesday. That's Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan in the background. Below, a short clip of Ed's comments.(Photo by Ed Mierswinski)
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